PESHAWAR – A woman passenger was killed and a flight steward sustained injuries when Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane arriving from Riyadh was fired at as it approached for landing at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan Airport on late Tuesday night, reported a private TV channel.
A spokesman for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) confirmed that two people, a female passenger and a steward were injured. The wounded woman, reportedly, succumbed to her injuries later.
The spokesman said that the Peshawar-bound PIA flight PK-756 (Airbus A-310), with 178 passengers on aboard, was landing at the airport when the incident happened. The pilot, however, managed to land the plane successfully.
The injured were moved to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) for treatment.
Police and security forces cordoned off the airport premises and launched a search operation to arrest the culprits after the incident.
Injured flight steward Ijaz Chaudhry was shifted to CMH. Police officials and PIA spokesman Mashood Tajwar confirmed the incident and the casualty.
The suspected attack follows a major Taliban assault on Karachi airport earlier this month that killed at least 32 people including all 10 attackers.
The security was put on high alert around the area amidst Pakistan military’s ongoing operation Zarb-i-Azb against militants in North Waziristan Agency, one of the country’s seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies next to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
